Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this poem, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," in 1596 as a response to, and a parody of, Christopher Marlowe's famous pastoral poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." Marlowe's original is one of the best examples of the type of poem that is known as "Pastoral."

Passage adapted from "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh (1596)

This is The Faerie Queene, written by Edward Spenser in the late sixteenth century. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter. This stanza also mentions one of the poem’s main characters, the Redcrosse Knight.

Passage adapted from The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser,I.ii.15.1-9 (1590)

Example Question #2 : Identification Of British Poetry To 1660

Which of the following works features the characters Grendel, Wiglaf, Hrothgar, and Breca?

Possible Answers:

Piers Plowman

The Reeve’s Tale

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Paradiso

Beowulf

Correct answer:

Beowulf

Explanation:

These characters are from Beowulf. Grendel is the monster that Beowulf fights to avenge the destruction of Heorot; Wiglaf is a young warrior and follower of Beowulf; Hrothgar is the king of the Danes and lord of Heorot; and Breca is a childhood friend of Beowulf.

Example Question #1 : Identification Of British Poetry To 1660

The “Pearl Poet” is responsible for which medieval work of literature?

Possible Answers:

Purgatorio

City of God

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Piers Plowman

Troilus and Cressida

Correct answer:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Explanation:

The Pearl Poet is another name for the Gawain Poet, an anonymous author who is thought to have written the fourteenth-century poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl. A classic Arthurian narrative, this poem is a chivalric romance that follows the adventures of Sir Gawain.

Example Question #1 : Identification Of British Poetry To 1660

Which early English manuscript is known for its comical and often obscene riddles?

Possible Answers:

The Book of Kells

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Beowulf

Pearl

The Exeter Book

Correct answer:

The Exeter Book

Explanation:

The Exeter Book, a tenth-century codex of Anglo-Saxon poetry, contains nearly a hundred riddles on various subjects. While the Exeter Book is also known for its lyric elegies, it is important to remember that the manuscript contains an important variety of secular writings and is one of the best known sources of extant early English poetry.

Example Question #1 : Identification Of British Poetry To 1660

In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne,I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep weere,In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes,Wente wide in this world wondres to here.Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hillesMe bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte.I was wery forwandred and wente me to resteUnder a brood bank by a bournes syde;And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres,I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye.

What is the title of the poem from which these lines are taken?

Possible Answers:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Pyramus and Thisbe

The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

Troilus and Cressida

Piers Plowman

Correct answer:

Piers Plowman

Explanation:

Written in the late 1300s, this poem is titled Piers Plowman and is widely considered one of the most important works of Middle English literature. Langland used unrhymed alliterative verse to develop his satirical religious allegory featuring three men, Dobest, Dobet, and Dowel.

Example Question #1 : Identification Of British Poetry To 1660

Lo! the Spear-Danes’ glory through splendid achievementsThe folk-kings’ former fame we have heard of,How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle.Oft Scyld the Scefing from scathers in numbersFrom many a people their mead-benches tore.Since first he found him friendless and wretched,The earl had had terror: comfort he got for it,Waxed ’neath the welkin, world-honor gained,Till all his neighbors o’er sea were compelled toBow to his bidding and bring him their tribute:An excellent atheling!

These lines begin which work of literature?

Possible Answers:

Piers Plowman

Beowulf

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Grendel

The Faerie Queene

Correct answer:

Beowulf

Explanation:

Beowulf, one of the most important works of Old English literature, features the characters Scyld the Scefing, Hrothgar, Grendel, and the eponymous Beowulf of the Geats. The epic poem begins with the monster Grendel attacking Hrothgar’s mead-hall, Heorot, and follows Beowulf as he seeks vengeance.

The Faerie Queene, published in the 1590s by Edward Spenser, includes an Arthurian plotline and various religious allegories. The poem is distinguishable by its nine-line Spenserian stanzas, which follows an ABABBCBCC rhyme scheme, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last in iambic hexameter.

Example Question #1 : Identification Of British Poetry To 1660

Thou lykenest wommanes love to helle,To bareyne lond, ther water may not dwelle.Thou lyknest it also to wilde fyr;The more it brenneth, the more it hath desyrTo consume every thing that brent wol be.Thou seyst, that right as wormes shende a tree,Right so a wyf destroyeth hir housbonde;This knowe they that been to wyves bonde.

The above lines are written by which of the following authors?

Possible Answers:

Dante

Boethius

Chaucer

Bede

The author is anonymous.

Correct answer:

Chaucer

Explanation:

This excerpt from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is, like the rest of the work, unafraid to poke fun at idealized notions of romance. This particular passage is taken from the Wife of Bath's Tale. Chaucer’s poetry is distinguishable by its Middle English and The Canterbury Tales in particular can be identified by any mentions of its more famous characters, including the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the Miller, and the Reeve.

Passage adapted from the Prologue to "The Wife of Bath's Tale" l.371-378 in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1475)

All GRE Subject Test: Literature in English Resources

Report an issue with this question

If you've found an issue with this question, please let us know. With the help of the community we can continue to
improve our educational resources.

Do not fill in this field

* Your Name:

* Your Email:

* Issue Description:

DMCA Complaint

If you believe that content available by means of the Website (as defined in our Terms of Service) infringes one
or more of your copyrights, please notify us by providing a written notice (“Infringement Notice”) containing
the
information described below to the designated agent listed below. If Varsity Tutors takes action in response to
an
Infringement Notice, it will make a good faith attempt to contact the party that made such content available by
means of the most recent email address, if any, provided by such party to Varsity Tutors.

Your Infringement Notice may be forwarded to the party that made the content available or to third parties such
as
ChillingEffects.org.

Please be advised that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) if you materially
misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. Thus, if you are not sure content located
on or linked-to by the Website infringes your copyright, you should consider first contacting an attorney.

Please follow these steps to file a notice:

You must include the following:

A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf;
An identification of the copyright claimed to have been infringed;
A description of the nature and exact location of the content that you claim to infringe your copyright, in \
sufficient detail to permit Varsity Tutors to find and positively identify that content; for example we require
a
link to the specific question (not just the name of the question) that contains the content and a description of
which specific portion of the question – an image, a link, the text, etc – your complaint refers to;
Your name, address, telephone number and email address; and
A statement by you: (a) that you believe in good faith that the use of the content that you claim to infringe
your copyright is not authorized by law, or by the copyright owner or such owner’s agent; (b) that all of the
information contained in your Infringement Notice is accurate, and (c) under penalty of perjury, that you are
either the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf.